Artist Agreement

1. Who This Agreement Is Between

This agreement is between you (the artist) and Surfaced Art LLC, a Texas limited liability company (“Surfaced Art,” “we,” or “us”). When you apply to join Surfaced Art and we accept your application, this agreement becomes binding on both of us.

2. What Surfaced Art Is

Surfaced Art is a curated digital gallery for handmade art. We review every application by hand. We don’t accept AI-generated work, print-on-demand products, or mass-produced items. Every artist on the platform made what they’re selling.

We act as your gallery — we provide the platform, handle transactions, calculate and collect shipping costs, manage customer service, and pay you when your work sells. We do not take ownership of your work at any point.

3. What “Handmade by You” Means

This is the most important part of this agreement. Every piece you list on Surfaced Art must meet all three of the following:

You were meaningfully involved in making it.That means more than just designing something or finishing it at the end. Your hands and decisions have to be central to the making process, not just the start or the finish. Tool assistance is fine — outsourcing the actual fabrication to someone else is not.

Your handwork is substantial. If you use digital tools, machines, or equipment, you have to be the one operating them and making the creative decisions at every step. A jeweler using a laser cutter they operate themselves: fine. Sending a file to a factory and receiving finished pieces: not fine.

No third-party manufacturer is primarily responsible for producing the piece. This means no print-on-demand services, no factories, no drop-shipping. The piece has to come from your studio, not someone else’s.

If you’re unsure whether a specific piece or process qualifies, write to us before listing it. We’d rather answer a question than remove a listing after the fact.

4. Applying and Getting Accepted

Applying to Surfaced Art does not guarantee acceptance. We review every application ourselves — a real person looks at your work, your process, and your story. We’re looking for authenticity, not fame or follower counts.

If we accept your application, we’ll send you a formal acceptance email with instructions to set up your profile. Your agreement with us starts from the moment you complete your profile setup and publish your first listing.

If we don’t accept your application, we’ll let you know. We won’t always be able to give detailed feedback, but we’ll be honest that it wasn’t the right fit.

5. Your Profile and Listings

Your profileis your public-facing gallery page on Surfaced Art. You control your bio, photos, CV, process media, and all content on your profile. You’re responsible for keeping it accurate and up to date.

Your listingsmust accurately represent the work being sold. Photos, dimensions, materials, edition information, and descriptions must all reflect the actual piece. Misrepresenting a piece — intentionally or carelessly — is a violation of this agreement.

Minimum listings:You must maintain at least 3 active listings on your profile to keep your account active. If your active listing count drops below 3, we’ll reach out before taking any action. If it stays below 3 for 45 days without a response or explanation, we may pause your profile until listings are restored.

Availability:When you mark a piece as available, it must genuinely be available for purchase. Don’t list pieces you’ve already sold, pieces you no longer have, or pieces you’re not willing to ship.

6. Commission and How You Get Paid

Our commission is 30% of the sale price of each piece. This covers the platform, payment processing, customer service, and marketing. You keep 70%.

We do not take any commission on shipping costs. Whatever the buyer pays for shipping goes to you in full.

How payouts work:When a buyer purchases your work, payment is captured immediately and held by Stripe (our payment processor). After the buyer confirms delivery — or after 7 days from the expected delivery date, whichever comes first — your payout is released to your connected bank account. This window exists to give buyers a fair chance to flag a problem before you receive the funds.

Founding artist rates: If you joined as part of our founding artist cohort, your commission rate is different from the standard 30% and is specified in your acceptance email. Those terms take precedence over this section for as long as they apply.

To receive payouts, you must complete Stripe Connect onboarding. This is a one-time identity and banking verification handled directly by Stripe. We never see your banking details — only a Stripe account ID. You won’t be able to receive payment until this is complete.

7. Shipping

You are responsible for packing and shipping every order yourself. Surfaced Art does not hold inventory or fulfill orders on your behalf.

Shipping ratesare calculated at checkout using the packed dimensions and weight you provide for each listing. Buyers pay shipping directly — it’s shown as a separate line item from the artwork price. Please measure and weigh your packed box carefully when you list a piece, not just the artwork itself. Inaccurate dimensions cause rate errors that affect buyers.

You must enter a tracking number within 3 business days of a sale. This protects you as much as the buyer — tracking is your evidence of shipment in any dispute.

Pack your work well. Carriers are not known for gentle handling. Breakage due to poor packaging is not covered by Surfaced Art, and repeated packaging complaints may affect your standing on the platform.

US shipping only. Surfaced Art is US-only at launch. You must be able to ship to any US address.

8. Buyer Disputes and Returns

If a buyer has a problem with their order, they contact Surfaced Art first. We handle the initial back-and-forth so you can stay in your studio.

We will contact you if a dispute requires your input. Most issues are straightforward. If something is genuinely wrong with the piece — it doesn’t match its description, it arrived damaged due to poor packaging, or it was never shipped — we will work with you to find a fair resolution. In some cases this may include a refund, which may be funded from your payout.

We don’t expect perfection. We do expect honesty and a good-faith effort to make things right.

9. Your Content and Your Intellectual Property

You own your work. Selling through Surfaced Art does not transfer any intellectual property rights to us. The copyright in your artwork remains yours.

What you give us permission to do:By listing work on Surfaced Art, you give us a non-exclusive license to display, reproduce, and promote your work for the purpose of operating and marketing the platform. This means we can show your photos on the platform, share them on our social media, and use them in marketing materials. We’ll always credit you. We won’t do anything with your work that you haven’t consented to — if we want to feature your work in a specific campaign, we’ll ask first.

Your profile content— your bio, your photos, your process videos — belongs to you. You can take it with you if you leave the platform.

10. What We Expect from You

Beyond the handmade requirement, here’s what being an artist on Surfaced Art means:

• List work that you actually made and that you actually have. Don’t list pieces you’ve already sold elsewhere or that no longer exist.
• Be honest in your descriptions. If a piece has a flaw, note it. If dimensions are approximate, say so.
• Ship promptly. Enter a tracking number within 3 business days. Let us know if something comes up that will delay a shipment.
• Respond to our messages within 5 business days. We only reach out when something needs your attention.
• Keep at least 3 active listings on your profile.
• Don’t list work that violates someone else’s intellectual property or that you don’t have the right to sell.

11. What You Can Expect from Us

This isn’t a one-way agreement. Here’s what we commit to:

• We will pay you accurately and on time. Your 70% (or your applicable founding artist rate) goes to your bank account after the buyer confirmation window closes.
• We will handle buyer communications first. You won’t spend your studio time answering customer service questions.
• We will never show ads on your profile page or recommend other artists’ work on your listing pages. Your pages are yours.
• We will be honest with you. If something changes — our commission structure, our policies, our plans — we will tell you directly and in advance.
• We will not ask you to sell exclusively with us. Sell on your website, at galleries, at art fairs. We’re one channel among many, and that’s how we want it.

12. Non-Exclusivity

To be completely explicit: this agreement is non-exclusive.You can sell your work anywhere else you want — your own website, Etsy, galleries, art fairs, direct to buyers. We will never ask you to give that up. Your participation on Surfaced Art does not restrict your ability to sell or show your work through any other channel.

13. Changes to This Agreement

We may update this agreement from time to time. If we make changes that affect your rights or obligations in a meaningful way, we will notify you by email at least 30 days before those changes take effect. You’ll have the opportunity to review the changes and, if you don’t agree with them, to close your account before they apply to you.

Minor changes — fixing typos, clarifying language without changing meaning — may be made without notice. The current version of this agreement is always available at this page.

14. Closing Your Account

You can leave any time. If you want to close your account, email us at support@surfaced.art. We’ll remove your active listings and close your profile. Any pending payouts for completed sales will still be released to you on schedule.

We can close your account too,but only for a real reason — a serious or repeated violation of this agreement, fraudulent activity, or conduct that harms buyers or other artists on the platform. We’ll always tell you why, and for anything other than fraud or serious misconduct, we’ll give you a chance to respond before taking action.

We won’t close your account because your work stopped selling, because you’re not active on social media, or for any reason that’s really about us rather than you.

15. The Legal Stuff

We’ve written this agreement in plain language, but it’s still a contract. A few things that need to be stated clearly:

Governing law: This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Texas.

Disputes:If we have a disagreement that we can’t resolve between ourselves, we agree to try mediation before pursuing any other legal action. Additional dispute resolution terms are pending attorney review.

Limitation of liability:Surfaced Art’s liability to you is limited to the amounts actually paid to you through the platform in the 12 months before any claim arises. We’re not liable for indirect or consequential damages.

Entire agreement: This agreement, along with your acceptance email (which may specify different commission terms for founding artists), is the entire agreement between us. It replaces any prior conversations or understandings.

Severability: If any part of this agreement turns out to be unenforceable, the rest of it still applies.

16. Questions

If anything in this agreement is unclear, or if you have a situation that doesn’t seem to be covered, please write to us at support@surfaced.art. We’d much rather talk it through than have either of us operating on a misunderstanding.

Surfaced Art LLC | surfaced.art | support@surfaced.art

This agreement was last updated March 2026.